Continued Bionicon Golden Willow Testing

I think this may be a little more than Bionicon intended this bike for. But it's exactly what I wanted it for! Climb to 10,000 feet, rail down rocks. Oh yeah - although I took it off to ride this section for the photo, I was riding with a 15+ pound camera backpack. That's right

I love the Golden Willow. I'm sorry that I'm not able to impartial. But this bike has been a revelation to me - especially since I moved to Utah.

Thanks to Mark Robinson for the photo. Not many good ones of me out there.

The Bionicon Ironwood, Edison, and the new Super Shuttle just made a family trip down Mt. Seymour on the North Shore today. The only bike that was missing was the Golden Willow which is stuck in customs until tomorrow. The riding up here is insane and I had some great guys to ride with that were willing to test the bikes on some gnarly terrain.

Good to see you got your mug posted for a change! See you in Downieville.

Not enough info out there on how well the suspension works. All this stuff on the geometry change, and hardly a mention usually of the action, what kind of hits are absorbed well or not, deflection(rigidity), and so on.

"It's only when you stand over it, you know, when you physically stand over the bike, that then you say 'hey, I don't have much stand over height', you know"-T. Ellsworth

Take A Look

Originally Posted by Jayem

Not enough info out there on how well the suspension works. All this stuff on the geometry change, and hardly a mention usually of the action, what kind of hits are absorbed well or not, deflection(rigidity), and so on.

It's true that the magic button gets all the attention. But the suspension works really, really well. I'm not not saying it works as well as the best of the best that's out there. But it's absolutely the best all-around compromise. Right now I've got the Golden Willow and a short travel VP-Free and the Golden Willow is my weapon of choice for almost everything I ride. For sure, I'd like having the Free on the trail in the picture. But I don't want to push it from 8000 feet to 9500 feet. The Golden Willow I can pedal a decent amount of the way and then ride all the way down. You might find suspension that feels better on the downhill. But you're gonna really be killing yourself on the climb or it's gonna suck on the way down. The fork on the Golden Willow is really, really good once you get it tuned right. I do wish it had a little more in the back. But I'd rather have it as-is and keep the angles then compromise them for more travel. It's the front suspension and the head angle that really count for me.

I can tell you all day and all night. But in the end, you have to ride it. That's what got me hooked.

Seymour

The Bionicon Ironwood, Edison, and the new Super Shuttle just made a family trip down Mt. Seymour on the North Shore today.

You need to come ride this trail with me. At the minimum I'll tell you how to find it. It rules. You do have to pay to get to it. But it's 110% worth the climb/hike.

I only rode Seymour once but it was an eye-opener. It made me decide that I needed an 8-inch bike. So what's the winner up there? I would guess the Ironwood is the one. I think the Golden Willow would be too small for that stuff. I'd want to ride my Free

One more photo for you, from the very top of the ride - Scott, seriously undergunned on his Stumpjumper

The Bionicon Ironwood, Edison, and the new Super Shuttle just made a family trip down Mt. Seymour on the North Shore today. The only bike that was missing was the Golden Willow which is stuck in customs until tomorrow. The riding up here is insane and I had some great guys to ride with that were willing to test the bikes on some gnarly terrain.

Good to see you got your mug posted for a change! See you in Downieville.

Ride well.

You mean this Supershuttle?

Great riding with you Mic. I'll take you on a "xc" rip before you head back to Cali that will blow you away

Not enough info out there on how well the suspension works. All this stuff on the geometry change, and hardly a mention usually of the action, what kind of hits are absorbed well or not, deflection(rigidity), and so on.

Jayem,

It is not our place to try to convince of the suspension and the feel of the bikes. This is truly best determined by you on a real test ride. The second best source of information is reviews from those have ridden the bikes. I invite you to research what you can on the bike's performance, have an open mind, and ride one for yourself someday.

By travel, it would have been the Ironwood with 200mm front and rear. However, I feel the real way to examine this question is by the overall performance of the rider and I have to say that the rider of the Super Shuttle took the prize. It was a combination of his skills and the bikes ability to adapt that makes him the overall winner. He was just a great guy that we met at North Shore Bike shop that had ridden the Edsion once and was willing to give the SS a try. He made the bike shine down that trail. When I was walking, he was on the skinnies (as they call narrow bridges) and was rolling into some steep and nasty terrain. It was truly a pleasure to watch him ride the bike. The SS that he was riding only weighed about 32 lbs and he is used to riding a 39lb hardtail.

I look forward to riding that trail with you and it can be as early as two weeks from now. Let me know and I will be there!!! Which Bionicon should I bring??

Tomorrow we are off to the Okanagan and we will be in Whistler for the weekend.

I was just talking about you in the last post!! Good to know your mtbr name so I can reference you as the guy who gave me my first lesson on the North Shore. Thanks for the adventure today. I am still amazed at the riding here and I look forward to a little XC action, which I can only imagine has something "extreme" about it.

You got the maiden voyage on that medium Super Shuttle and I don't think you even put a scratch on it.

I think this may be a little more than Bionicon intended this bike for. But it's exactly what I wanted it for! Climb to 10,000 feet, rail down rocks. Oh yeah - although I took it off to ride this section for the photo, I was riding with a 15+ pound camera backpack. That's right

I love the Golden Willow. I'm sorry that I'm not able to impartial. But this bike has been a revelation to me - especially since I moved to Utah.

Thanks to Mark Robinson for the photo. Not many good ones of me out there.

Not enough info out there on how well the suspension works. All this stuff on the geometry change, and hardly a mention usually of the action, what kind of hits are absorbed well or not, deflection(rigidity), and so on.

It is not our place to try to convince of the suspension and the feel of the bikes. This is truly best determined by you on a real test ride. The second best source of information is reviews from those have ridden the bikes. I invite you to research what you can on the bikes performance, have an open mind, and ride one for yourself someday.

Enjoy your ride!

Sorry, I trust photo john to be fairly honest.

"It's only when you stand over it, you know, when you physically stand over the bike, that then you say 'hey, I don't have much stand over height', you know"-T. Ellsworth

Thanks!

Originally Posted by Jayem

Sorry, I trust photo john to be fairly honest.

Thanks! Glad to hear that. Have you read my Golden Willow review? I talked a bit about the ride there. Basically, it works great. I am sold on air suspension because it's infinitely tunable and progressive. As long as it's reliable, it's the best. And so far I've had no problems with the suspension on the Golden Willow. Compared to the best Marzocchi or Fox stuff I've ridden, it's not quite as compliant on the small speed bumps. But you can't talk about the bike without talking about the angles and versatility. Because, at least for me, the bottom line is that it's the best compromise I've encountered. Sure, I could have a Talas on a bike with a fairly slack head tube angle. But it's not going to be as simple to use and it's not going to change the angles as drastically, I can pin it on this bike, hit jumps and drops, and rail corners. It's all I want to ride on most of the rides I've been doing since I got it figured out and tuned to my liking.

Yep. I am not sold on air suspension though, too linear with the mid-stroke usually, although hybrids like my 66 light are interesting to me due to the real low-pressure spring required and how they retain the infinite adjustability. The DHX air and RP3 that I ran in recent times were pretty good examples of what I don't like, but air stuff has made strides. I'm not sure any manufacturer has made a 100% reliable adjustable travel air-fork, but it's getting better.

"It's only when you stand over it, you know, when you physically stand over the bike, that then you say 'hey, I don't have much stand over height', you know"-T. Ellsworth

I think this may be a little more than Bionicon intended this bike for. But it's exactly what I wanted it for! Climb to 10,000 feet, rail down rocks. Oh yeah - although I took it off to ride this section for the photo, I was riding with a 15+ pound camera backpack. That's right

I love the Golden Willow. I'm sorry that I'm not able to impartial. But this bike has been a revelation to me - especially since I moved to Utah.

Thanks to Mark Robinson for the photo. Not many good ones of me out there.

I rode down the very steep and rocky Corona Loma trail here in Phoenix early this morning on my Golden Willow after a climb up Mormon Loop / National. I hadn't intended to go so far, because the weather was pretty hot even early, but riding is just too much fun!

Thanks for the review of the Bionicon -- when I bought the bike your review was pretty much the only information out there. I've been pleasantly surprised by how easy the bike is to ride. I find myself taking the fun line more and hiking quite a bit less.